Powdercoating windshield frames: yes or no
 

The alu windshield frame of my Fever 27 is all white, powdercoated.
You would expect it to be in as new conditions on a 4 years old boat, right? Wrong.
It already has some bubbles under the coating, and the coating itself is peeling in places.
Surely, the fact that the previous owner used her in salt water and didn't rinse her after each usage has a lot to see with that. In fact, it didn't get any worse since when I'm using her only in fresh water.
Anyway. I was now going to remove the windshield, get it sandblasted and powdercoated again, when I found this very interesting article on the use of aluminum in boatbuilding.
In a nutshell, it explains why it takes a LOT of care to avoid the problems I'm having, and recommends to keep aluminum unpainted or, even better, anodized.
So, I'm now reconsidering the option of anodizing the frame, rather than powdercoat it. Also because I think it should be as nice in anodized grey as it is in glossy white, if not nicer.
But I'm wondering if anyone made a similar experience, and whether there are any drawbacks in anodizing that I'm missing.
After all, there aren't many anodized windshield around.
Sure, also for the builders, the cost is slightly higher than powder coating - maybe a hundred bucks or so.
But I can't believe that's the only reason... Or is it?!? :eek:

Anodizing fades with UV exposure. I would paint it and have some flex agent added to the paint.
The problem you have is common with powdercoating, especially when whatever is powdercoated has some flex to it.

Fixx
 

i would polish it and call it a day!

Yeah, I'm also tempted...
Then again, the loss of weight after sanblasting it could well be worth 1/4 mph more?!?
:lolhit:

Really? Not so quickly, I would guess.
I've seen a few anodized window frames on trawlers which stay in the water all year long, and never noticed any fading.
And mine is always sheltered when not used, so I suppose it would take decades to fade...

I had red anodized vents and cleat bezels on my 1993 Baja and the stuff had faded quite a bit by 2000.

Aha! That's possibly the point. I mean, the red colour.
I spoke with a shop who has the anodizing equipment, they did tell me that they can add any colour to the anodizing bath, but strongly recommended the non-coloured anodizing for durability (which means that the final colour is greyish).
According to them, black is also manageable, for those who really don't like the uncoloured look, but they were honest enough to tell me that for any other colour coating is better.
If I'll go the anodizing route, it'll definitely be uncoloured.

Hardcoat anodize (AMS 2469 specification) with either nickel acetate or de-ionized hot water sealing should be a good choice if you want a "natural" color.

When they install the screws into the windshield frames, or the "clip on" snaps for the cockpit cover, they break the powdercoat skin. Almost every Fountain that I see with the powdercoat windshield frames has bubbles around the fasteners ... just like what the article link you posted describes.

Precisely!
Then of course, things can get worse more or less quickly depending on whether the frame is kept rinsed and clean or not.
By chance, isn't there any smarter solution around, instead of those clip-on snaps, to fit the cockpit cover?